The 5-Ingredient Dinner I’ve Made Every New Year's Eve for 20 Years

Name: The 5-Ingredient Dinner I’ve Made Every New Year's Eve for 20 Years
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Cuisine: 5-ingredient dinners
Ingredients: 1 lemon; 1 tablespoon salt, plus more for seasoning; 1 (9-ounce) package fresh fettuccine or homemade tagliatelle; 8 ounces Dungeness or blue crab meat, picked over for shell fragments (about 1 1/2 cups); 1/2 cup crème fraîche; 3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning

15 min 4 7 ingredients

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Ingredients

1 lemon
1 tablespoon salt, plus more for seasoning
1 (9-ounce) package fresh fettuccine or homemade tagliatelle
8 ounces Dungeness or blue crab meat, picked over for shell fragments (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup crème fraîche
3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning

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Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While the water is heating up, finely grate the zest from half of the lemon, then juice it. Prep and measure out all the remaining ingredients and have them ready to go; this dish needs to come together fast or the cooked pasta will clump.
Add the salt to the boiling water followed by the pasta. Cook according to the package instructions; the pasta should be al dente. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water. Turn off the heat.
Return the drained pasta to the pot and set on the warm burner. Quickly add the crab, crème fraîche, tarragon, pepper, and lemon zest and toss with tongs to combine. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice and more salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of the reserved pasta water at a time, if desired, to loosen the sauce. The pasta will absorb the sauce as it stands. Serve immediately. Love the recipe? Leave us stars and a comment below!